Creative Lens: Andy Rahe on Toshiko Takaezu
May 3, 2025
2:00–3:00 PM
Location: CMA
Join artist Andy Rahe, a former apprentice to Toshiko Takaezu, for an intimate guided exploration of Wild Earth: JB Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu. Through close looking and conversation, Rahe offers firsthand insight into Takaezu’s working methods, creative process, and deep connection to the natural world—revealing how making art and living were inseparable, each continuously shaping the other.
This program is free with registration.
Rahe taught at the Columbus Academy from 2005–2018 as an upper school visual arts educator. He remained active in the hospitality industry during this time, serving at local establishments (The Burgundy Room, Mitchell’s Ocean Club), leading him to plant his own grape vineyard in 2009 and open a winery in Baltimore, Ohio in 2015. Takaezu loved hearing how the grapes were growing tall and getting stronger with each passing year, a bond of growth shared by many of her apprentices, as she maintained vibrant and fruitful flower and vegetable gardens at her home in Quakertown, New Jersey.
Rahe continues to make his own artwork as an arts educator in both clay and painting—and as Director of Operations for Stump Plants, which featured his vessels from 2019–2023. He is currently a sales associate for Argo & Lehne Jewelers, a role that presents new opportunities for creativity in crafting custom jewelry designs for his clients.
This program is free with registration.
About Andy Rahe
Andy Rahe first met Toshiko Takaezu as a high school student during a summer program at Skidmore College. Rahe attended Skidmore as an undergraduate and continued to work as a ceramics shop assistant until 1998. He served as Takaezu's full-time apprentice from 1998–1999. During Rahe’s apprenticeship year, Takaezu recognized an ease of collaboration between the two, encompassing both their daily lives and their shared work in the studio, which yielded the monumental wheel-thrown works of Takaezu’s “Star Series.” For several years, Rahe continued to assist Takaezu in making numerous large-scale ceramic works. After their work on the “Star Series,” Takaezu and Rahe remained close until her passing in 2011.Rahe taught at the Columbus Academy from 2005–2018 as an upper school visual arts educator. He remained active in the hospitality industry during this time, serving at local establishments (The Burgundy Room, Mitchell’s Ocean Club), leading him to plant his own grape vineyard in 2009 and open a winery in Baltimore, Ohio in 2015. Takaezu loved hearing how the grapes were growing tall and getting stronger with each passing year, a bond of growth shared by many of her apprentices, as she maintained vibrant and fruitful flower and vegetable gardens at her home in Quakertown, New Jersey.
Rahe continues to make his own artwork as an arts educator in both clay and painting—and as Director of Operations for Stump Plants, which featured his vessels from 2019–2023. He is currently a sales associate for Argo & Lehne Jewelers, a role that presents new opportunities for creativity in crafting custom jewelry designs for his clients.
